


Hard Day's Night

by tanglelore



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Anosmia, Bathing, Beforus, Cockblocking, Disturbing Themes, Helmsman Kink, Knockout Drops, Medical Kink, Multi, POV Alternating, Piercings, Pre-Accident Mituna, Sensory Deprivation, Simulated Medical Procedures, Suspension, Top Drop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-08
Updated: 2015-07-08
Packaged: 2018-04-08 07:39:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4296300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tanglelore/pseuds/tanglelore
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"So, honeybee. I think I found a third for that idea you had. Well, third and fourth.”</p><p>“Which idea? FUCK YOU YOU LITTLE—“ Some turd tried to sneak up and shank him from behind. Mituna nuked him into orbit, then turned his attention to Latula. </p><p>“The helmsman idea.” He froze. That idea. Oh fuck. Ohhhh, FUCK. He thought she’d maybe forgotten that one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hard Day's Night

**Author's Note:**

  * For [spockandawe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/spockandawe/gifts).



I.

Mituna glanced up from playing BMTAS6 on his favorite PVP server. His matesprit had placed herself butt-first between him and the screen and she was not actually wearing pants. Just a tight top that came invitingly close to revealing whether or not she was even wearing underwear. He leaned back a little, his grip on the controller loose. He was ahead enough to get distracted for a while. 

“Holy bugfuck, babe. Your butt is _killing_ me in that dress. Shirt. Thing.”

Latula wiggled it obligingly. He still couldn’t quite tell if there was anything under it but sleek gray skin and that fine teal bulge. “It’s a tunic when I’m wearing it, asshat, but it’s just one of your shirts anyway.”

“Nope, it’s all yours now. My nook thanks you for stealing it. Fucking hell.” He adjusted his bulges, which were starting to get pretty wiggly, and waggled his eyebrows at her. “I can stop colonizing these fuckwads at any point, if you’re down to—“ She interrupted him.

“It’s your fault for being such a skinny jerk. But anyway. I got a thing.” She fussed with her hair. “I need to talk to you about.” Mituna shrugged and waved the controller at her. He wasn’t doing anything important. “So, honeybee. I think I found a third for that idea you had. Well, third and fourth.”

“Which idea? FUCK YOU YOU LITTLE—“ Some turd tried to sneak up and shank him from behind. Mituna nuked him into orbit, then turned his attention to Latula. She stepped closer, and he took an experimental deep sniff. Oh yes, she was definitely down. He executed a perfect mental twitch and logged out without any hands. Unfazed, she straddled his lap, settling her hands on his shoulders. He ran his hands up her amazing, wonderful, thick, sexy thighs (date all the skaters, get all the hotness) and nope, nothing under there but her. Her bulge wasn’t out yet, but he knew how to change that. He slipped one hand between her legs, aiming for the seam of her nook. 

“The helmsman idea.” He froze. That idea. Oh fuck. Ohhhh, FUCK. He thought she’d maybe forgotten that one.

She smirked at him. “Pornstar’s down to be your intake officer, just like you thought. And I asked around a little, and, um. Look, I know he’s weird but Horuss knows the mechanics inside and out.”

“Horseface?! I thought he was pretty much, like, uninterested in anything that wasn’t part-musclebeast.”

“Nah, he’s into all kinds of stuff. At least, intellectually. Neither of them will be handling your bulge anyway, so it doesn’t matter. That’s all for me. Well, Porrim can if she wants, but,” She rocked her hips gently and he could feel a hint of dampness at his fingertips. His nook twitched. “she said that she probably won’t. At the very least, you won’t be feeling hers. She’s got some kind of exclusive thing right now, though, lol, that won’t last long.”

“No way. You are fucking unreal. You’d seriously, absolutely, for realsies, help me do this?”

“Well, yeah.” She looked away a little. “It’s a thing you’ve wanted since you were a wiggler. You better at least take a test run to see what it’s like, right? Since it’s kind of a permanent dealio. I’ve been looking into what it takes to be an admin anyway. So—“

He kissed her hard. “You’re the best, most fucking rad, amazing matesprit in the known universe. I’m so red for you, I can’t. Ugh, please undo my pants and fuck me blind, okay?”

She grabbed his wrists and pinned them to the couch behind his head. He stopped breathing as she ground herself down on his crotch. “We have to molt someday, right? Can’t just hang out fucking and playing video games forever.”

“I could.”

“Nah, you couldn’t. You’ve got bigger dreams. And if you’re gonna be a helmsman like your ancestor, then I’m going to follow you and help you do that job better than anyone else. Besides, I’ve always liked you tied up.” She winked at him, then licked his nose.

He whined and caressed her junk with his brain, just because he could. She gasped, probably politely, and asked:

“Wanna see if I can undo the buttons with my bulge?”

“Fuck yeth. I mean yes. I mean, holy shit. Do me, babe. Do me _hard_.”

II:

It took a while to get things set up. Horuss was the main problem, as he kept asking if there was space in ‘Tuna’s hive for this or that piece of equipment and finally, Latula put the brakes on his fussing and offered up hers. Aqua wasn’t the highest, but she still had an upper-middlecaste upbringing and home. It had to be big enough to hold Dragonmom, after all. Even a smallish dragon was still a badass dragon. Mituna wasn’t entirely down with it, but it was a lot closer to a government facility than his shitty hiveblock. Not that she didn’t love that place. They’d fucked on every square inch of it except the actual bee-frames. She’d suggested that once and his face had made her laugh so hard she nearly spewed cola out her snout.

Mituna was super nervous, though he tried to pretend it was all the coolest shit he’d ever thought up. It was basically the funniest, because he’d be all “yeah, it’s cool, lemme ride you like a miniature musclebeast”, and then she’d mention something about ships while she was up in his business and he’d clamp down on her bulge. She was pretty proud to be the one putting his fantasies into effect. It didn’t stop her from being a little twitchy, though. Heck, everyone was except Porrim, who seemed to find everyone else’s difficulty amusing. But that was Porrim, right? Always sort of superior and vaguely amused except when someone brought up her black fling with Kurloz. That had been a hilarious shitshow, for sure. 

All told, it took almost a tenth-sweep. Horuss came over and dropped some things off and sweated all over and apologized like eighteen times for everything. She’d been pretty gracious about it, all things considered, and she really did appreciate that he was willing to do it. There was something going on with him, too. Something with Damara and Rufioh and she wasn’t about to pry but whoa, if it didn’t give her the mindcrackles. She could almost feel her grubscars twitching whenever his phone buzzed. She was, for once, kind of happy that she couldn’t smell whatever he was giving off.

Finally, the day arrived. Porrim came by early so they could go over things a little, and Horuss just after her to set up. They sat in the food prep block and discussed the details while Latula idly sipped water and observed. It was pretty cool to see them just talking for once. Horuss never just ‘talked’ to anyone, it was always so stilted and weird. But he clearly had some STRONG feelings about helm tech, and Porrim was, as always, super into making sure that she knew and could express exactly what the scene was. She wore a megahot dress suit that would have been workblock appropriate except for the mostly unbuttoned shirt. Horuss was in his usual jumpsuit with gloves and goggles and that was fine and seemed good for his role. For herself, Latula picked a simple government-issued onepiece that she’d gotten after checking in for her admin training admission appointment. She knew that it was pretty similar to the ones that they wore on the ships, and it was, she had to admit to herself, a little bit her fantasy, too. Even before she met ‘Tuna, she’d thought the helmsboys and girls were cool, even if she’d been sure she’d end up in law like most of the historical Pyropes. Now, with the prospect of admin work being her reality someday… Well. Also, it had colorblocking that framed her butt really nicely.

They cleared her foyer and set up an end table to use as a check-in point. She removed all the framed skateshots and nudes (mostly of her, taken by ‘Tuna.) from the hallway and put in a couple of copies of lowblood art pieces like the ones she’d seen in the training buildings, boring shit like florals and abstract landscapes, plus one inspirational space battle. She wanted it to be as authentic for her honey as she could. Then she let Horuss at her spare respiteblock. She was fine not knowing exactly what he was doing. More or less. She told him not to trash the walls, but if he needed to use screws or whatever to go for it. Then she shut the door on his assorted grinding and clanking noises.

Mituna would be there soon. She waited with as much of a semblance of calm as she could manage. She wouldn’t fuss in front of Porrim. She wouldn’t.

(She did.)

III:

Latula’s hive was nothing new, just six times as big and eight times as nice as his, like always. It was okay, he guessed, because it was _hers_. He always felt just a little rattly there, though. Kind of appropriate for this, he guessed. His mind buzzed; he’d been flipping pebbles and leaves with his brain all evening, just to keep his psi from leaking. He’d stopped by his moirail’s earlier, but for once Kurloz hadn’t had anything useful to say. He seemed kind of off, to be blunt about it. Mituna shrugged to himself. Whatever. Everyone had weird days, and this one was gonna get super-strange, super-quick. ‘Loz would be fine. He always was. Hella.

He and ‘Tula had spent a few hours the previous night talking over how this was going to run. He was going to get himself prepped like he was going into the recruitment office, cleaned, nicely dressed, everything (his one concession to this was to put on a clean shirt and wash his jeans). Por(n)rim was going to be there to be his intake officer, tell him what he needed to know about being a ship. ‘Tula would be there as the admin he was being assigned to. Afterwards, he’d be put into Horuss’ care, and he’d simulate some of the things that happened to a troll when… Yeah. That was the scary part. It wasn’t a necessity. He was low enough on the hemospec that he could probably have literally spent his whole life playing video games, skating hardcore, and fucking whoever wanted his lanky butt. But some weirdly competitive part of his brain really did want to prove that Mituna Captor was good enough to do big things. So, this. If he couldn’t handle this, then he was a wiggler who deserved to be culled, a wader doomed to be stuck in the system. And if he could handle it, then maybe he’d apply on his next hatchday. 

He stopped nattering at himself and knocked.

Porrim answered. Her hair was up and she was wearing some glasses and he was tempted to pop a wiggly just from the way her shirt was threatening to burst, but then she cleared her throat and introduced herself:

“Hello, recruit! I’m Officer Maryam. Congratulations on passing the tests for the Beforan Space Corps Service, and welcome to your last mental and physical examination prior to the installation.”

Mituna wilted a little, then sniffed cautiously. She was just as severe in her pheromones as she looked. But he could also smell Latula just inside, and she was way more welcoming. He brightened and put on a toothy grin.

“Great, Por—Officer Maryam. What do I do?”

She eyebrowed at him, and hissed: “You can start by not being a bulgebrain, Mituna. Get your eyes off my cleavage.” Then, louder. “Come inside. We’ll start this off easy with a few questions.” Porrim held the door as he walked in, then shut it behind him. 

Latula was there, no glasses, no skatesuit, just boring plain heels, a white and teal dress, and a ponytail that wanted to be official but couldn’t manage it. A wisp had escaped, curling around one of her ears, and he wanted to brush it back. She looked like an ultra-hot office worker and he wanted to pinch her cheeks. Actually, he wanted to unzip the dress with his teeth, but whatever. 

Porrim took his elbow and led him to a chair. He’d never seen it before, and it distracted him. Everything was distracting him. He fidgeted and a painting fell off the wall. He’d never seen it before, either. It was ugly, boring. Another clattered down. Latula scampered to pick them up, but Porrim ignored them.

“Goodness. I heard the stories from your talent tests, but you really are quite the psychic, aren’t you Mr.,” she checked a clipboard that lay on the table, “Mr. Captor. Are you related to—“

“Yes. Sollux is my ancestor. I don’t want to talk about it.” He scowled.

“Of course. This is, after all, about you and _your_ fitness for space travel. You’ve already had your power levels ascertained, and your chart indicates you’re being placed in an S-class ship. That’s quite impressive, and also quite the responsibility. This is Ms. Pyrope. She’s in training to be your admin. You may call her Admin Pyrope until you have achieved a working relationship.”

Latula reached out to grab his face and bump it as usual, then stopped herself, put her hands by her sides, and sniffed deeply. Mituna winced, but breathed in the waft of her sadness and suppressed irritation. 

“Hey, admin. It’s nice to meet you. I hope we’ll be on first names soon. Real soon.” He waggled his eyebrows and she smiled a little. Better. Porrim rolled her eyes. “You, too, Officer, what was it, Merrygams?” 

“Maryam. Save it for your maintenance crew, Captor.” She huffed at him. “Let’s go over the qualifications and mental inquiries, and then we can get into the process.”

“Business before pleasure, huh. Okay. I can handle that. As long as we get to the pleasure part.” His hands went to his crotch, pretending there was something there that needed adjustment. Latula was trying not to crack up. That was definitely helping. Then Porrim reached out and caressed his cheek. Her fingers caught on one of his ears and she trailed one long nail down it.

“Wha—“

“I know you’re nervous, Mr. Captor. I am aware that you have a moirail, but as he is not presently here, and as I understand has no intention of going to space with you, _and_ I need you to be calm for this process, I will be forced to act as your culler. Unless you’d like to resign now, before you’ve even begun?” She looked into his eyes and smiled. It was not a particularly friendly smile and showed her fucking bloodsucker teeth off in all their sharp white glory.

Mituna shook his head, his hair flopping into his eyes. Her pheromones reeked of conciliation and calm, and it irritated him. Latula’s couch shook and thudded against the floor. He looked at it, remembering being bent over it during a particularly athletic bout of sex, and forced his ass to chill the fuck out. This was not enough to get him riled. He couldn’t afford to let it. Still, he hadn’t really thought about leaving Kurloz behind, and that was. Was. Well, he was kind of glad that she was pulling out the pale for him. Kind of. He flashed a quick grin at Latula.

“Nah, I’m good. Sorry, Officer Maryam. What’s the first question?”

She smiled, only showing a tiny bit of fang.

“That’s better. First of all, you are aware that this process is irreversible? We have been working steadily to find ways to make it as minimal as possible, but there are certain functions that we have been entirely unable to reproduce without a full installation.”

“I, yeah, kind of? To be honest, I haven’t done as much research as I should have?”

That was a lie. He’d been looking into this since he found out that he was not the only Captor in recent memory.

“That’s fine, Mr. Captor, and not unusual, even at this point in the process. Many fine helmstrolls have come to me not fully prepared and elected to continue. If you’re sitting in this chair, it means that you’ve made at least a partial commitment to the Space Corps, and be assured, we’re glad to have you. I know you’ve seen images of a helmstroll in the media; it’s quite a popular subject in a variety of genres, both literary and visual.”

“Sure. I have a friend,” he winked at ‘Tula, who blushed, “who loves space dramas.”

“Right. Well, the potential consequences are a little different from the images that we allow to be displayed in public. This may shock you a little, so be aware that I’m here to calm you if needed.”

Mituna snorted a little. Not possible. Porrim pulled out a photo of a dead troll. He stared down at the mutilated corpse. It was of indeterminate age with softly curled horns, limbs amputated beyond the first joints, open holes here and there, some with cut wires protruding from them. The eye sockets were empty, and it had no teeth. Every orifice, natural or artificial, was crusted with mustardy ochre blood, just like his. All the paintings along the hallway fell at once.

Porrim’s voice was soft and gentle, and she took his hand and stroked it as she spoke. 

“This is a helmstroll who was pushed past his capabilities. This is a danger that few are aware of, and even fewer are prepared for. This is why we test your psychic ability so aggressively prior to allowing entrance, and why we assign an admin for you immediately.” She beckoned Latula over and passed his hand to her. He gripped it. “Most helmstrolls do form red or pale bonds with their admins. It helps keep them honest about how they are feeling and what they are able to accomplish. This one was caliginous with his. You can see the result.”

Mouth dry, Mituna asked, “Porrim, seriously. How did you even get this? You never see dead ships. No one does. The corps tell people that it doesn’t happen unless the entire thing runs across a hostile and gets blown up.“

She smiled primly. “I have friends in strange places, Mituna. Do you want to stop?”

“N-no.”

“Okay. So, most trolls at this point want to know how they are going to go from this,” she gestured to his body, “to, well, not this,” she slid the ugly photo under the clipboard. ”But this.” She pulled out a shiny brochure. The front featured a smiling troll who appeared to be seated at a console. Only a certain amount of examination revealed that her legs were fused with the organic tech. “I won’t lie and say that it’s easy or fun, but we try to make it as painless as possible. There are different levels. Ships that are not interstellar can have helmstrolls who only undergo partial amputation, and can even be removed or transferred to other ships. S-class ships like yours, though, require a complete physical alteration, and moving you once you’ve been installed is very difficult. Both sets of limbs must be removed from the knee and elbows. Sensors are implanted throughout the body. Wires are run under the skin to allow complete immersion into the control system. Often a helmet is necessary to accommodate the same. Modern methods allow you to keep your senses of hearing and vision, but that was not always the case. The photo I showed you is many sweeps old, and will be returned to the archives as soon as I’m done with your intake interview, but is an accurate display of the types of alterations you will experience as a starship. How do you feel? Be honest; this is being recorded.”

“I feel, uh, kind of gross, to be honest. My brain is buzzing. Scared. My bloodpusher is pounding.”

“That’s good!” She patted his other hand. “Are you still interested in continuing the interview? Keep holding Admin Pyrope’s hand. It’ll help you a lot.”

Mituna thought about it. This was actually creepier than he’d expected. But he was still down.

“Yeah, tell me more. Or ask me questions or whatever.”

“Sure. Admin, you can stand behind him, breathe in his—“ She stopped. Latula shook her head at Porrim, a fierce wave of fierceness coming off of her. His brave babe wouldn’t let anyone treat her like she was broken. Porrim nodded and continued. “Breathe in his scent. Learn to feel his emotions, how he looks when he’s distressed. This is important for both of you.”

‘Tula moved around behind him and settled her arms over his shoulders, burying her face in his hair. It felt nice, she smelled nice, and he projected subtle psionic vibrations over her skin. Pretty soon she smelled even nicer. He clasped both of her hands loosely. 

“Yes, good. It seems that you two have the potential for a very strong bond.” Mituna snorted, and Porrim arched an eyebrow at him. “Don’t laugh, recruit. This is one of the factors of successful installation and progress as a helmstroll. Weren’t you listening to me a moment ago? Now, the second question: Are you prepared to abandon your existing quadrants and face the prospect of never seeing them again?”

Mituna gripped Latula’s wrists reflexively. No, no fucking way. But if she could be there for him… Anyway, this was a game. Maybe in the real world they’d be willing to accept them as a bonded pair and it would all be fine. He’d just say yes.

“Yeah, I guess.” Something in the kitchen rattled, something on a counter tumbled to the floor. “Sure. Why not. I mean, if I have a good admin like her with me…”

“Do you understand that your quadrants may blur at times with your admin, and occasionally with your captain and/or maintenance officers? Your hormonal state is up to you — generally helmstrolls in the modern age choose to leave themselves intact and work with their admins if or when they desire sexual contact or come into heat. Some choose to have themselves chemically or physically neutered—“

“Fuck no. My bulges are staying exactly the way they are. I’m sure we can work a thing or two out, right, Admin? You’re a radically hot girl and I’m a crazily charismatic and psychotically psionic guy. Things will be fine.”

Porrim nodded. “By all means, Mr. Captor. Do you have any hobbies?”

“Sure, I like video games, skateboarding with my peeps, and sex. Lots of sex.” Mituna rolled his hips, and Latula giggled into his hair.

“That’s useful, and is actually a great way to help relieve stress soon after the installation is complete. Video games are also still available when you are not in active duty through an assortment of VR headsets and/or psionic-adapted consoles. The skateboarding, well.” She smiled a little. “That’s right out. Also, regarding sexual activities, please do be aware that you will not, in all likelihood, have any hands.”

Mituna stared at her intently. “Yeah, but _she_ will, and I’ll still have a mouth and a nook, right? We can make it work. ” The table rattled, and he gritted his teeth. _Keep a lid on it, Captor._

“I’m happy to hear that, recruit. But back one step — are you comfortable with vacillation with your admin? Or allowing that vacillation to occur with other members of your crew?”

“I guess?” He thought about Latula papping him. It would probably involve brain damage because girl had a mean slap. He thought about papping her. It was undeniably weird, but he figured he could adapt if he somehow couldn’t be near ‘Loz. “I’ve never been real vaccillate-y, though. I’ve got some friends who—“

She cut him off. “That is irrelevant. Are you prepared to be unable to move away in the event that one of your crew members develops caliginous feelings for you? You will, of course, never be permitted a true black romance. It is simply too dangerous.”

He tapped his head. “Not a problem. If there’s a fucking Ampora on the crew, I’ll just move _him_.” She nodded. 

“Are you prepared to need to reject pale solicitations from those who will feel that you are pitiable primarily because of what they will perceive as your mutilated state? Or red solicitations from those who find it appealing? Rape and abuse of helmstrolls is a severe crime punishable by law, but is also known to be a problem, particularly on deep space voyages where it is difficult to enforce Beforan laws.”

Mituna scoffed. “Have you been spending too much time with Kanny again? Have you even met me? Trust me, I’m pretty good at standing up for myself. Even if I haven’t got feet.”

Porrim blushed a little. “Sorry. That got away from me a little.” She coughed, and glanced up at the clock. “Anyway. I think that’s all the questions I’m supposed to subject you to at the moment. The next step is the physical examination.”

“Awww yeeee. I’m always down for being examined physically. Do I get to examine _you_ , Officer?”

“NO, recruit, you do not. Come along, you two.” Porrim beckoned them down the hall. Mituna stepped purposefully on one of the ugly paintings, and the frame cracked under his foot. The door to Latula’s spare respiteblock was closed, which was kind of unusual, but they passed it by and entered her actual room. It was hilariously clean. No underwear hanging off of the lamp, no skateboards scattered around, no GameGrub mags, nothing. Just her very clean recuperacoon, plus a heap of blankets he guessed was going to be the examination table (heh) and her desk, with a small pile of papers and her closed grubtop on it. He started to take off his shirt, and Porrim stopped him. He wasn’t sure what the smile she was wearing meant, but it looked promising. 

“This is going to be a test of your ability to hold still and be comfortable with strange hands on you. Though admissibly, that’s only going to be for a short while. Once you have a solid tech crew, it’ll be all people you know. Under any circumstance, we’re going to undress you.” He glanced at Latula, and she winked at him.

“Okay, Officer. Whatever you say.”

“Now remember, you must hold still unless I tell you to do something else. Your admin, of course, will be assisting me.”

“Natch~” Latula stepped up. “Get those arms up, Captor.”

Mituna obeyed, because when Latula used that tone of voice, you just did what she said, because hotness. Porrim stood behind him and started lifting his shirt. This might have been a fantasy he’d had once or twice, getting sandwiched between these two intensely gorgeous girls, having his bulges deep in ‘Tula’s nook and getting plowed brainless by Porrim. He’d heard stories about how far down her piercings went from ‘Loz, and since they did have that thing once, he figured his buddy would know. Didn’t mean he wouldn’t mind learning for himself. The other way around would be equally fantastic. Yeah, that’d be fucking amazing. He realized that he really was popping a wiggly, and not a little, like, a _lot_. His nook was even starting to sog up his boxers. 

Latula caught his eye and grinned. She might not be able to smell the eau de horny fucker he was giving off, but she had plenty of experience with what it looked like. She slipped a hand down and cupped his crotch. He rocked forward a little, wanting her to feel how wet she was making him. He could practically feel Porrim rolling her eyes at them, but man, fuck it. Then Porrim’s hands were on his shirt, lifting it over his head. She scraped her nails along his grubscars and he didn’t bother to suppress a soft moan.

“It’s nice that you’re finding this enjoyable, recruit. But you’re doing a shitty job of staying still.” Her voice, a deep whisper just behind his ear, and the sexy ‘mones she was starting to let spill told a very different story. He grinned and rubbed against Latula’s hand again. This was starting to get really good.

“Sorry, Officer. I’ll try to do better.” He shoved his butt back against her crotch, and for two glorious seconds he really was between them. He was pretty sure he could feel the slow writhe of Porrim’s bulge through her skirt, but then she moved away. Fuckdamnit. 

"Get your ship stripped, Admin. Don't take too long about it, though."

"Yes, Officer!" Latula hastened to comply, popping open his jeans and kneeling to yank them down. Her face was just about even with his junk when his boxers cleared it, and she got a faceful of dual bulges as they spilled out. She maybe licked one. Maybe that was her mouth on one of them. Maybe she was kind of sucking oh fuck yes. Ah, no. She stopped. Mituna whined.

“Yes, I do think you have a very strong potential for compatibility. This is quite the display.” Porrim sounded pretty turned on, and Mituna flicked out just the barest hint of psi at her, freeing just one button on her blouse. She took a deep breath and, he thought, nearly fell out of her shirt.

“You ever fucked a ship, Officer? Ever felt that psi all up inside?” He grinned, showing every one of his snaggly teeth. 

Latula stood up, licking her lips. “You gotta try it, if you haven’t, Ms. Maryam. It’s rad as hell. Tingly and warm and kind of zappy…” She trailed off, but she let her fingers twine gently with his bulges. His nook throbbed a little. 

“Not, ah, not that this doesn’t sound fun, but there are two things that I feel I should remind both of you of: one, I am currently mostly exclusive in the two concupiscent quadrants. Latula, stop giggling, it’s true. At least for now. And two, and probably more importantly right now, you’ve got one other troll involved, and while he is reasonably patient, believe me, you do not want him to get frustrated. So.” She walked over and stood behind him again. “I’m going to finish getting you naked and then abandon you to Horuss’ care.” Mituna felt her fangs on his neck and arched back to encourage her. “But let’s have this conversation again when neither of those factors are in play, hmm?” She gave him a last gentle nip, then moved away, setting his shirt neatly on the blankets. Mituna closed his eyes and leaned into Latula, burying his face in her shoulder and inhaling her scent. It pretty clearly indicated that she was absolutely ready for him to unzip that dress and let her pick which way she wanted him. He knew Porrim was getting the same thing. Not being able to sense what her body was throwing off meant that ‘Tula was pretty much unregulated in what she smelled like, and it was amazing. She was the best.

Mituna felt rather than saw Latula give a quick fistpump. She’d been gunning for a piece of Porrim for a while, too. Hell fucking yesssss. 

Horuss was kind of a thing, though. He’d seen some of the damage that the dude had done by accident, and while he might not be super-in-love with Latula’s hive, he didn’t want it destroyed. So he'd wait. A little bit. He sighed and resisted sinking his teeth into Latula’s flesh. Yeah, okay. She’d gone through the trouble to get this set up; he’d better keep playing along. Then Porrim knelt at his feet. 

“Let’s get those socks off you, recruit. You look ridiculous. Hold him for me, Admin?” 

Latula should have been the ‘drinker, she lit up so fast. She grabbed his wrists in one hand and shifted his hips so his bulges were presented to Porrim, who knelt in front of him, smiled sweetly and tapped his ankle so he’d lift his foot. Then she raised her other hand to draw a line of ohhhh fuck right along the wide open mess of his nook. He was sure it was probably dripping, ready to get filled and drilled. She made a noise, a really great noise. A noise like wanting and sex and giving up, but only a little. She leaned close and breathed in and made a second sound, and that sound was even better. Then she held his bulges out of the way, yanked the sock off with her other hand, and buried her face in his nook. She gave him lots of tongue, lapping up his genetic fluids and lubrication, dipping inside, but not quite far enough — Mituna arched his back to give her better access. Suddenly he wanted to see Latula bulge-deep in Porrim. Or maybe the other way around. Or maybe both. Oh, fuck. Could they do double-penetration? Was Porrim big enough? He would pay so many boondollars for that kind of high quality porn. Maybe he could get them both inside him, and that would — would — feel so —

Porrim lifted her face from his nook and breathed heavily against his thigh for a moment, then staggered to her feet, wiping the goo from her lips. Mituna sagged back against Latula, hissing in frustration, and a few of her pillows flew off the pile, landing with soft thumps against the wall. Mituna hastily tamped down his psi.

“Okay. Okay. That’s enough to tell that you’re in fine physical shape. Oh, god. Okay. Yes, I think you’re going to be fine. I think I had also better go. You two … well, you can do what you like, I suppose. Fuck first and risk pissing off a Zahhak, or go in reeking of incomplete sex and see if you can drive him bonkers that way. Either way, I should leave before I do something one of my partners won’t like.”

She adjusted her bulge through her skirt, buttoned her blouse and opened the door. Horuss stood there, face blue and damp, with one hand held up as though he were about to knock. A single drop of sweat rolled down his cheek.

Porrim shook her head. “I think he’s ready for you, technician." She tapped him lightly on the shoulder and walked out. Mituna heard the front door shut a few moments later. He looked at Latula, who was smirking. He looked at Horuss, who hadn’t moved.

Mituna felt terribly exposed, especially in front of someone he’d never even considered getting into any quadrant, least of all a concupiscent one, but he grinned anyway. Horuss turned, ponytail flipping, and went into the other respiteblock. 

“Cap—, I mean, recruit, wheneighver you hayppen to be ready, I will be whinney—that is, waiting.”

Well, he was trying, anyway.

Mituna couldn’t keep him waiting, though he sure thought about it. The potential consequences just weren’t worth it. He chilled just long enough for his bulges to retract, then headed in, though he didn’t bother getting clean or attempting to hide what they’d been up to. There was no point. This was a sex thing as much as anything else, and Latula said she’d been pretty open about that, even if Horuss in particular wasn’t going to be getting any actual pail.

Horuss was cleaning a metal bar very intently when they came in. Mituna watched his nostrils flare. The metal slowly bent in Horuss’ grasp. He knew what they smelled like, ‘and it was kind of a treat to watch Zahhak try to control his face. He’d been known to say pretty rude things about lowbloods on occasion, and Mituna was fine with yanking his chain a little. Horuss set aside the ruined object and stood.

“Welcome to the medical bay, recruit. I’m here to ensure that your condition remanes stable during the physical halterations that are needed to make you a part of the ship.” He eyeballed the mess that remained in Mituna’s crotch with a certain amount of distaste. “It would, of horse, have been better if you had been curried before coming in, but I will work with what I have. Please stand here.”

He looked so absolutely serious and focussed on his role, it was fucking hilarious. But that was Horuss. Mituna made sure to look as grim as possible, but he stood where Horuss told him. 

“You’ll need to be put under an anesthetic for the operation. I horssume that you were aware of that fact.” He pulled out a reinforced syringe. Mituna felt his eyes widen.

“Like, for real? You’re going to try to put me under?” He could feel his horns sparking a little at the thought. Even if this was part of the process, there was no way he was going to be out for hours with a Zahhak in control.

“I would haysten to inform you that if you’re intending to go through with this, Canter, you’re going to have to, er, submit to someone. They only take voluntary reincruits for explorathorsey ships these days.”

Latula intervened. “Simmer down, ‘Tunes. It’s just a light sedative, lasts about as long as a round or two of Skate Lord 3. I got it from Pornstar. And while that’s a pretty cool prop,” she glared at Horuss. “You’ll be drinking it.”

Horuss seemed a little disappointed, but produced a vial of purple liquid and offered it to Mituna. He took it, wrinkling his nose. It smelled sweet, though not quite on the level of the clowncult swill ‘Loz drank. He looked at Latula. She leaned into his shoulder, giving him a gentle headbutt.

“It’s okay if you want to do it without, but there’s a topical anesthetic component to this too, and I figured you’d rather snooze through that part, since it’s meant to be like the amputations. Just let me know if you wanna back down. I don’t want this to be not fun for you!”

Mituna thought about it, then shrugged and tossed it back. “Fuck it, I’m in. I wanted to do this, so I—“ His vision dimmed. The last thing he felt was someone catching him as his knees buckled.

IV: 

They had to work fast. Latula was worried that the sedative was STRONGER than she’d thought it would be, but Horuss reassured her that, according to his studies (accomplished with great haste over the prior tenth-sweep, maddeningly incomplete, but probably sufficient for this project), it was normal for lower castes to respond more quickly to those kinds of things. He, hoofself, wasn’t completely certain that the dressage was accurate, but he was certain that Porrim would never take risks with one of her, ah, friends. 

Mituna’s arms below the elbows and legs below the knee needed to be covered in a thick cream that was supposed to numb them for a period of time. She did that part, of course, since he was playing the part of the primary surgeon. Horuss was sure he was STRONG enough to get Mituna into the suspension framework he had built. It was based on the information he’d been able to find about helmsblocks; a sturdy, carefully weighted construction about six feet tall, with crossbars at the top and about three-quarters down. There would be some inhackuracies, of course, because he couldn’t really approximate the biowires that would be laced throughout, and he hadn’t wanted to bother with the tubes necessary for elimination of waste or, in more vintage variations, feeding. This would suffice, at least he hoped it would. He had managed to obtain a minor variation on a psi-blocker from an anonymous source, but as that was apparently only used in circumstances where the helmstroll was heavily discomfited by his new state, Horuss was unsure as to whether it would be appropriate. He set it out anyway.

This all smacked terribly of sexual relations that he was not certain he was comfortable with, but that nonetheless appealed on a very deep level. He felt sure that he was not to be invited to interact in more prurient aspects with the ochre blood, which was completely acceptable and very beneath him under any circumstances. If he were being much more honest with himself (as he tried to be at all times), he would rather have been the one being restrained. But that was an impossibility; there was simply no one STRONG enough to manage it, much less anyone with whom he might feel comfortable discussing his interests in such things. Still, seeing the intensity of their red bond made him wish, maybe hope, that he’d someday round up a partner. Someone who might be willing to tame him a little, perhaps?

He corralled his mental gyrations and returned to the task at hand. The sedation was beginning to wear off, and his client was beginning to stirrup.

V.

Mituna woke with a start. He was lying on a soft surface. It smelled pretty great, though. He inhaled and then went to scratch his nose. It didn’t work. His hands — he couldn’t feel his hands. Or his feet. He flailed a bit and started sparking, and then Latula’s hands were cool on his face and horns. He realized he was lying on her, with her rumblespheres pressed into his back.

“Shoosh, shoosh. It’s okay. You’re ready to be installed now. This is what you’ve been training for.”

He settled down, more or less. It was a fucking odd feeling, or _lack_ of feeling, really. Like his arms just kind of _ended_. He could look and see that they were still there, and he could even still sort of move them if he concentrated enough. But all sensation was gone.

“We’re going to hook you in now, okay?” He focused on her voice and slightly worried scent. This was fine. This was what he’d been worried about, and honestly, so far, it wasn’t that bad. Weird, but not awful.

Horuss stepped up, lifting Mituna and carrying him across the room. It wasn’t great to be naked in the arms of a Zahhak, but there was something kind of great about not having to worry that he’d be dropped on his head. ‘Tula had done that once, but he got her back by dangling her out a window with his psi until she nearly wet herself laughing. Good times.

“Can you assist me with this, Admin?” Horuss’ voice was a little hoarse. “I can hold him steedy, but it will be difficolt to adjust the cuffs. There are four sets just there. They open and close with hooktape, so overlap them appropriately.”

She came over, picking up the first set. “Where do these go?”

“On his arms, near the shoulder. The second set is just above the elbow. The third is mid-thigh, and the fourth is by the knee. That should be sufficient. I’ll keep him braced until all of them are on. They have additional loops to attach them to the bars.” 

Mituna felt her hands on his shoulders, lifting his arms slightly above his head, then a wide, heavy band wrapping around first one arm, then the other. It was pretty odd, but also sort of relaxing. He tested the bonds, and they held firm. Latula kissed his inner thigh as she spread his legs and fixed them to the bar. He felt a gentle wash of arousal, and began to purr. She laughed.

“My bee—no, my helmsman seems happy.”

Horuss coughed. “I suppose that’s better than the alternative. I’m going to let him go. He should be safely held.”

Mituna felt the thick leather gloves leaving his sides, and his weight shifted to his arms and legs. His body was stretched between the two bars. He took a breath — it seemed a little harder to manage than usual, but not badly so. He was exposed again, but somehow it didn’t seem to matter. He felt sort of buzzed. Somehow, the feeling that his limbs just kind of ended past the edges of the cuffs ceased to matter. He sparked and closed his eyes so he could enjoy the sensations more. He let his head fall back a little. Latula seemed to like the way he looked, too, at least from the way she smelled. He grinned lazily.

“Fuck, if this is how helmsman feel, I can handle it. I feel like I can handle anything. I could handle you a lot. Well, parts of me could.” He felt his bulges stir, just a little, at the thought. She stroked his torso, and he arched for her. He knew that Horuss was in the room, but as long as Latula had her hands on him, he didn’t care at all.

“Excuse me, Admin. I, my work is not yet complete. There are certain implants that are required to assist in the installation. Stall I continue…?”

“Oh, right. Yeah, I forgot. Sorry. Please, go ahead.”

Horuss clattered around and Mituna dared a peek. He was holding a small box, some wires, a tube, and a packet of white pads. 

“This is intended to simulate the process of inserting the wires. Er, there is one thing. It’s optional, but will make it more accurate.”

“Horseface, go ahead okay? I’m in this to the end.”

“It’s a psi-blocker. It fetlocks in place over your horns.”

“Just do it.” Mituna shut his eyes again and waited. “Radgirl, you wanna come keep me company?” She moved behind him and rubbed his shoulders. His purr rumbled back to life and he writhed a little. 

“You tell me if you’re getting uncomfortable, okay?” She licked one of his horns and he groaned a little.

“I will, but I promise I’m okay. Nnn, keep that up and I’ll start showing bulge, babe.” She ran her fingers through his hair, then tilted his head forward. Horuss was in front of him, reeking of suppressed arousal and sweat. There was pressure over his horns, a click, and suddenly his psi went dark. He spasmed and cried out. ‘Tula kissed his ear.

“You’re doing so good, honeylips. Stay with me.”

“I’m trying. This feels kind of fucked up, though.”

Horuss was silent, smearing something cool on his lower body — stomach, hips, thighs, and with an audible gulp, just above his barely-contained bulges. Mituna couldn’t not — he thrust at him, and grinned at his gasp. Horuss backed away for a minute, muttering something about his control, then returned to attach something to the damp spots. Mituna waited.

“You will wish to remove your hands, Admin Pyrope.” She did, and Mituna opened his mouth to complain just as Horuss flicked a switch.

The first zap was too intense, thrumming through his skin and making him yell and strain against the cuffs. His bulges emerged all at once, faster than they ever had before. It almost hurt. It stopped, and he panted for a moment.

“Holy fuck, holy fuuuuck.”

Horuss cracked a thin smile.

“I’ll reduce the power a little, helmsman. But keep in mind that in a real helm, this would go on for quite a long time. The biowires will creep under your skin.” He zapped him again, and Mituna’s nook throbbed. “Slowly, over a matter of, of hours. They will not be confined to single locales, but thoroughbredout your body.” 

He buzzed him again, and Mituna moaned. He wondered if this was how Latula felt when he psifucked her. If so, she was crazy lucky. It was almost impossible to successfully use your psi on yourself (he knew, he’d tried), and he’d never dated another psychic troll. His nook started to flood and drip. Embarrassing maybe, but he didn’t give a single fuck. 

Horuss looked serene and distracted. He removed the pads from Mituna’s body and set them aside. Mituna could feel his bulges twisting. He wanted someone to touch them. He was fucking tired of being bulgeblocked. Latula pressed herself against his back, stroking his hipbones. She whispered in his ear.

“Babe, I wanna fuck you so bad. You look so hot all spread out like this, your junk all ready to go. You’re nook’s so open and wet and I haven’t even touched it yet. Want you soft and warm all around me, hell yes. My helmsman, my Mituna.”

She smelled so fucking good. He wanted her bulge. He wanted her nook. He wanted anyone’s nook. He’d even take on Zahhak if he wanted to join in. The whole room smelled like sex. How in the names of all twelve saintcestors was he still so calm?

“The next step is to implant senshorse. These will monitor your vitals and also allow you to access the assorted onboard computers. Admin, can you assist me again?”

He pulled some pins and clips and handed them to Latula. 

“It behooves me to mention that I sterilized these beforehoof. Now, hand them to me one at a time as I request them.”

The first pin slid through the skin on Mituna’s chest like fire, leaving a trail of searing pleasure. The second felt like ice, on the other side just over his bloodpusher. After that, it blurred together into a tangle of sensation. Piercings alternating with pinching clamps and, he thought, some furtive gentle strokes against his belly and sides. His bulges writhed angrily, seeking any kind of skin contact and eventually finding his own nook. Everything felt unreal, his skin was too small, or too big, maybe he was floating, and Latula’s hands kept touching everywhere except where he wanted them and all the while the scent of both Horuss and Latula’s sexual excitement and his own fluids seeped into his nose and mouth. He felt his eyes watering — was he _crying _? — and there was a constant slick sound as he self-pailed.__

__It was too much, and as Horuss finished his ministrations and stood back to observe his handiwork, Mituna fell screaming over the edge, his genetic bladder flooding past his bulges to soak whatever was below. He whispered out an apology before letting the post-orgasm bliss to overwhelm his awareness:_ _

__“Sorry, ’Tules. ‘Bout the mess. I’ll help clean it up.”_ _

__“Later, skaterbabe. Later. You rest now.”_ _

__VI._ _

__Latula was grateful that Horuss helped her take Mituna down from the mock-helm setup and into the ablution block before very politely and sweatily fleeing. She was also pretty grateful that he’d prissily placed a bucket under Mituna when he’d noticed how close he was getting, though it did mean that she now had the super-awkward job of returning it at some point. Oh, well. He’d need to come over and reclaim his suspension device anyway. She was not, she found, entirely okay with how destroyed Mituna looked. He had bruises here and there, blood laced his skin from dozens of tiny punctures, and he was covered in sweat (not all of it his own) and assorted sexual fluids._ _

__She’d prepped a bunch of towels and a few bottles of water for her bee. Her bulge ached with the need to be inside something, probably his sweet nook, but first she had to make sure he was okay. She filled the tub with tepid water until he grunted at her between sips of water._ _

__“‘Tuuula. Hot water, yo. My everything kind of hurts. Kind of.”_ _

__She made it happen. As it ran, she rubbed him gently, toweling away the spots of blood and remnants of his crazyintense orgasm, then soaped his limbs to remove the last of the numbing cream. It was testament to his exhaustion that he let her. Usually any attempt to bathe him led to fart fights and soap in everyone’s eyes, not to mention water everywhere._ _

__“How are your arms and legs feeling?”_ _

__She watched as he shifted his fingers experimentally, then his toes._ _

__“No lasting damage. Kind of ironic, considering.”_ _

__“Yeah, considering.”_ _

__She giggled a little, then found she couldn’t stop. She kept laughing until it became hysterical, and found that she was actually, for reals, what the fuck, crying. Mituna reached for her, weakly pulling at her dress until he got frustrated and just dragged her in to the tub with his psi. Fortunately, removing the blocker didn’t seem to leave any residual weakness. She thought she might want to destroy it, but Horuss had pointedly taken it with him when he noticed her glaring at it._ _

__Mituna cuddled her, curling around her and patting at her in a way that felt almost pale. She tried to wiggle away, to put back on her normal aggro radgirl face and be strong because he needed to be comforted more than she did, but he wouldn’t let her. Finally she stopped and just let him hold her while she wept. He kissed her hair and horns and ears and whispered that he was okay, that she was okay._ _

__Eventually she stopped._ _

__“I’m sorry, ‘Tunes. This was supposed to be your show, and I apparently decided to take it and run it down the street with my cheap hoofbeastshit.”_ _

__“Nah, it’s okay. You wanna talk about it?” He stroked her hair and she burrowed into him a little._ _

__“I guess? I mean, it’s so embarrassing! But seeing you like that, so helpless. Like, it was a turn-on, kind of, at least in the moment? But then thinking about it, about your beautiful hands cut off and your, your psi—“ she hiccuped a little. “Your psi blocked. That was almost the worst part.”_ _

__“That was pretty bad for me, too, babe. I don’t think I’d want that to ever happen again. No fucking way. I’ll just have to learn better control so they don’t need to when—“_ _

__“If. Please say if, just for now? I just suddenly couldn’t handle the idea of you being trapped as a ship forever. And that picture Porrim found! I wanted to puke!”_ _

__“Seriously. I gotta tell you, ‘Tules, I wasn’t expecting that to turn me on like that, either. Not with Pornstar and way, way not with Horseface. It was like I wasn’t entirely in my body sometimes. Fuck, though, you smelled so good the whole time. Like, sometimes I was just responding to how much you were telling me you wanted me without words at all. Haha, though, Horuss was way fucking turned on, too, even if he didn’t say anything about it. I bet he went straight home and used some kind of weird toys to get off. He’s probably getting off right now!”_ _

__She went still and he made a little questioning noise. She nuzzled him, nipping gently at his ear._ _

__“That was part of it, honeybee. I couldn’t always tell how you were doing. I mean, you tried real hard to loop me in when you could. But once your hands were tied and everything. It, I, being noseblind is pretty awful.”_ _

__She could feel a tear threatening to overflow. She sniffed and blinked hard, not wanting to keep being _that_ matesprit. He kissed her again._ _

__“I’m sorry, ‘Tula. I should have thought about that.”_ _

__“Nah, it’s cool if you forget sometimes. But tell me more about how you felt, maybe? That’ll help me feel better. Was it okay, the idea of being a ship, and having all that done to you? I mean, even though we all kept falling out of character all the time and everything?”_ _

__“Weirdly, it kind of was. Like, just facing the idea down as a real thing, that feels like it helped me somehow. The idea of losing Kurloz, though. That freaked my shit out.”_ _

__She shivered sympathetically. “Yeah. I didn’t even think about that. I was so focused on being able to be there myself, I sort of forgot about your palemate.”_ _

__“Rude! No, not seriously. I should have thought of it. By the way, babe, are you intending to have your hands half on my bonebulge?” She startled a little at that, registering that she was, in fact, stroking him rhythmically. “Because I thought I was too tired for anything else, but I’m sort of getting ideas right now. I might have had one spectacular orgasm, but I haven’t had you anything with you yet today, and I’m always up for that.” He gave her a sheepish smile. “I might have to ask you if I can get into your nook, though. I think my legs probably won’t forgive me if I’m wrapping them around your hips. They already spent enough time spread today.”_ _

__She felt his hands on the zipper of her dress, slowly pulling it down. Belatedly, she realized that it was probably ruined and she’d have to pay for a new one. It parted over her back and she sighed._ _

__“Are you sure you’re okay? I just, no pressure or anything. I’m into it, or will be real soon.”_ _

__He pressed her hand against tip of his bulges._ _

__“If these somehow aren’t working, I’m so ready to psifuck you until you scream. You look so good when you come, babe.”_ _

__She felt her body warming again, her bulge reawakening and starting to squirm. The idea of having him curling inside her, both bulges filling her up and a little psi action on her bulge? Then maybe another bath and a long hard nap?_ _

__Sounded like a really solid end to a kind of rough day._ _

__She leaned up and licked his nose._ _

__“Let’s get naked, babe. We can call it sex therapy.”_ _

**Author's Note:**

> Beforan Military Tactical Assault SK8RZ 6. Because someone’s going to ask. I know how you people are. ;)


End file.
